AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Who’s in charge here?” he called out to the three men working.
No one spoke up. Not a good sign.
“You,” he pointed at the nearest guy holding a sledgehammer. “Where’s Oliver?”
The guy just shrugged his shoulders and kept tearing up the far wall.
Elijah walked out of the noisy space to the empty bar area before calling the owner of the construction company. After five rings, the call went to voicemail.
“Hey, this is Elijah Keaton over at Black Light and I need you to call me right away. Your crew is completely demolishing the theater. This is not what we discussed. I’ll remind you that we have our biggest event of the year the night of Valentine’s Day and we must have the theater in perfect condition. Call me.”
He had no more than hung up when his phone rang. He answered it on the first ring. “Talk to me.”
“Hey, I’m running late, but I’ll be there soon.” It was Avery, the club chef.
“Christ, not you too. Everyone’s late.”
“Sorry, but we normally have Tuesdays off. I had a hair appointment.”
“Fine but bring down the menu and purchasing orders as soon as you get here. I want to go through everything to make sure we have it all ordered.”
“Relax, this isn’t my first rodeo you know.”
He hung up. He didn’t want to talk about hairdos and rodeos, dammit.
The ping of an incoming text came as he was halfway to the sauna at the back of the club.
It was a text from Madison: On my way. Do you want me to pick up anything on the way?
Elijah tapped out a quick reply: Punctual ppl.
Madison replied almost instantly with a brief: Ouch.
Groaning, Elijah tried to text while he stomped through the curtain to the play area: Gt ur ass here or u’ll have smthng 2 cry bout.
Madison’s next text was so damn sassy he could practically hear her voice: Your texts are getting worse. See you soon.
Despite complaints from his employees, his texts were just fine, and as he tucked his phone away Elijah met the sauna repair guy coming around the pool.
“Get it fixed?” he asked expectantly.
“I wish. The fan’s motor is burned up. I’m gonna have to see if I have a replacement in my storeroom. If not, I may need to order one from the manufacturer.”
Fucking great.
“How much is that gonna set us back?”
“Depends. You have a pretty old system. I think the manufacturer is in the EU. Could take a few weeks.”
“Bullshit. We gotta have the sauna working by Valentine’s Day at the latest. It’s one of the…” He cut off his sentence. The contractor wasn’t a member, and although he’d signed the standard NDA before being allowed in the top secret BDSM club, he didn’t need to know the details. “Just get it fixed before then.”
“I’ll know more when I get back to my shop. Call you later.”
After the guy left, Elijah stood in the middle of the empty club, glancing around at the place that now felt like home rather than work. As hard as he tried to tell himself that the bet he’d made with Spencer wasn’t that important in the wide spectrum of life, he couldn’t push down his anxiety. Not only was he competitive, but he couldn’t stand the thought of another year of staff meetings where the asshole in D.C. snuck in digs and insults over their win the year before.
We won’t lose. Not again.
* * *
